15 Best Outdoor String Lights For Your Patio Or Deck BBQ

August 16, 2020

Your home’s deck and patio are more than just a place to house a grill. It’s also an outdoor entertainment area that deserves just as much respect and admiration as your living room. Especially if you are the kind of person who loves to have friends and family over to share a great meal.

All across the United States people take steps to upgrade their deck and patio areas with decorations, outdoor yard art, portable fire pits and attractive water features. While these things certainly are striking and can serve as conversation starters, there are still functional components that need to be included when designing a new concept for your deck or patio.

Outdoor lighting is one of the most popular ways to spruce up any outdoor entertainment space. The problem is that permanent light fixtures tend to cost a lot of money. They’re also the sort of thing you need to have a licensed contractor install. Depending on where you live, you might also need to have professionally installed outdoor lights inspected by the local building inspectors. If they don’t pass the grade, it can impact your homeowner’s insurance premium. If you live in a neighborhood with a homeowner’s association, then you also might have to worry about someone complaining.

One of the best ways to upgrade your outdoor lighting is to use simple string lights. They tend to be very affordable, as well as moveable. Most come with some type of clips or you can discretely zip tie them in place. Just make sure that they are indeed rated to be “Outdoor” which means they are durable enough to survive a rainstorm or at least have some type of waterproof protective coating.

Where Can String Lights Be Placed?

You can install them in whatever configuration you want when you will be entertaining guests, then quickly change them to new locations for when it’s just you can the family. They’re a great way to:

Light A Walkway – Since most outdoor string lights can be interconnected, you can splay them out in long chains. If you have a patio or other outdoor entertainment space that is away from the outdoor lights of the house string lights can be used to help unfamiliar guests stay on the path.

Highlight Landscaping Features – Not all landscaping features come with their own lighting. Tastefully wrapping or placing string lights around a statue, water feature, or a retaining wall can add to the ambiance, as well as keeping unfamiliar guests from accidentally stumbling into them in the dark.

Light The Grill Area – Some patios and outdoor entertainment areas lack the proper lighting to safely cook a meal after the sun goes down. Even if there is some light offered by the house, it usually casts deep shadows that make it difficult to see what you’re cooking.

Light The Dining Area – It’s no secret that people eat first with their eyes. If you are going to be hosting an outdoor dinner party after the sun goes down, you want your guests to be able to see their food. String lights can be hung overhead, attached to a pergola, hung across an arbor, of even installed at the edge of the dining table.

Light The Entertainment Area – More than one beverage has been spilled thanks to poor lighting around a deck or patio. Since string lights are versatile, they can be mounted to cast light from multiple angles. Not only does this help people to see their surroundings, but it also mutes any deep shadows. It’s a great option for adding ambiance to a firepit area.

Illuminate An Umbrella, Pergola Or Gazebo – While there are some with built-in lights, most umbrellas, pergolas, and gazebos are devoid of any professional lighting. With some simple outdoor string lights and a few zip ties, you can quickly illuminate these areas to give guests a place to gather.

Will String Lights Attract Bugs?

There is a little bit of debate in the science, but LED string lights in particular tend to do very little to attract flying insects. It’s also worth noting that string lights can come in different colors, or with a colored protective coating that alters the shade of the light they give off. Red light tends to be the least attractive to insects.

Are String Lights Considered A Fire Hazard?

String Lights, and LED lights, in particular, tend to be very low wattage. This translates to a miniscule, or negligible amount of heat production. Manufacturers also make every effort to engineer string lights to be as safe as possible.

It’s really only if they are misused or abused that they can cause a sort or other problems. Even then, a lot of the best outdoor string lights have some type of small fuse built into them, which will trip if there’s ever a short in the line.

Can String Lights Be Used Indoors?

Just because they are rated for outdoor use, doesn’t mean that LED string lights can only be used outdoors. Thier low wattage and negligible heat make them a decent option for enhancing the indoor ambiance. They’re arguably a better option than the old Christmas lights some teenagers use to decorate their room.

Are There Different Types Of String Lights?

The flexibility and low wattage draw of string lights inspire a fair amount of creativity. This means they can be used in long overhead strands, placed as temporary ground lighting, or even hung in sheets.

Can String Lights Be Used For Outdoor Holiday Decorations?

LED string lights with a heavy-duty protective coating are arguably better for outdoor decorating than exterior rated traditional holiday lights. Many have built-in fuses that will only cause a partial failure if there’s a problem, whereas traditional lights if a single bulb goes out will usually wipe out a vast area of the lights. String lights also tend to hold up better to the caprices of cold northern weather. So, even when the summer ends, you don’t have to pack your BBQ string lights away. They can be repurposed to enhance a roofline or decorate the trees and bushes in your yard.

Our Favorite Outdoor String Lights

Honeywell LED Indoor/Outdoor 36' String Lights with Bluetooth Speakers

$59.98 in stock